In 1957, Noël de Plasse, a researcher employed by French textile company Lainie`re de Roubaix, made an interesting discovery. He found that, under high temperature, certain solid dyes could pass straight to the gaseous phase without first transforming into a liquid. This physical process is named sublimation, and what de Plasse had discovered was eventually termed Sublimation ink. Nothing much was really completed with dye-sublimation up until the late 60s, in the event it began for use during the early computer printers. Today, dye-sublimation printing has developed into a popular and versatile procedure that is predominantly used for various types of textile printing, but in addition rivals UV for printing on three-dimensional objects like mugs, smartphone covers, and other specialty items.

A dye-sublimation ink includes solid pigment or dye suspended within a liquid vehicle. A picture is printed onto a transfer paper-also called release paper-along with the paper is brought into contact with a polyester fabric utilizing a heat press. Under heat and pressure, the solid dye sublimates and suffuses to the fabric, solidifying on the fibers. The graphic physically becomes portion of the substrate.

For years, printing by way of a transfer medium continues to be the typical dye-sub method. However, there emerged systems-called direct Sublimation paper or direct disperse-that could print directly onto a fabric without requiring a transfer sheet. It’s tempting to imagine, “Aha! Now I could save on transfer paper,” but it’s not quite as easy as that. Both varieties of dye-sub have their advantages in addition to their disadvantages, of course, if you’re a novice to the technology, or want to select a dye-sub system, it pays to understand the benefits and limitations of each.

The important advantage of utilizing a transfer process is image quality. “You get a more in depth image, the sides really are a little sharper, text is much more crisp and sharp, and colours are more vivid,” said Tim Check, Product Manager, Professional Imaging for Epson. Epson’s SureColor F Series dye-sublimation printers comprise the F6200, F7200, and F9200.

With transfer paper, during heat transfer vinyl, the ink doesn’t penetrate far in to the substrate, remaining near to the surface. In comparison, direct disperse penetrates further into dexopky66 fabric, which-very much like inkjet printing on plain paper-means that fine detail is lost and colors become less vivid.

“For me, the visible difference will almost always be clarity because you’re always going to get a cleaner, crisper print when you’re doing a print to paper then transferring,” said Steven Moreno, founder and principal of L.A.’s MY Prints, a digital print shop that are experts in apparel prototyping and garments for entertainment industry costume houses, along with flags, banners, and other display graphics. The majority of MY Prints’ effort is dye-sub-based. “For something with fine detail we might always desire to use transfer paper.”

An additional benefit of utilizing a transfer process is that you could deal with just about any surface having a polyester coating: banners, mugs, flip-flops, you name it. “There are numerous applications, and that’s really the advantages of a transfer process,” said Check. “It can make it a very versatile solution.”